U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,850 discloses an electrical connector comprising, an insulating housing and a termination cover that is moveable toward a cable receiving face on the housing. Electrical contacts are spaced apart in the housing. Insulation displacement terminals on respective contacts are spaced apart from one another. The contacts and the terminals are arranged in two rows. The terminals are the widest portions of respective contacts. The contacts must be spaced apart to prevent electrical shorting between adjacent terminals. Accordingly, the width of the terminals determine how closely spaced the contacts can be adjacent to one another.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,079, the contacts can be spaced closer together, even when the terminals are wider than the spacing between the contacts. The terminals on contacts in one row of contacts are alternately positioned along opposite sides of a channel shaped opening. Thus, two rows of terminals extend from one row of contacts. The terminals are alternately spaced apart to prevent electrical shorting between adjacent contacts in the same row of contacts. It has been observed that the terminals are susceptible to undesired misalignment and undesired bending within the channel shaped opening, especially during penetration of the terminals into a cable for electrical connection of the terminals to the cable. Once the cable is clamped between the cover and the housing, the terminals are hidden. A misaligned or bent terminal could produce a defective electrical connection. Heretofore, the terminals were installed in the housing, and a separate insulator was assembled to surround the terminals. The separate part increased the cost of the connector, and required an extra assembly step.